The Most Important Cities In The World

London is the most important city in the world for the rich,
according
to the latest Wealth Report from real estate
consulting firm Knight Frank. But it won't hold onto
its title for long.

According to the report, New York is set to overtake London as
the top city for the wealthy in the next decade. And Asian cities
like Singapore, Hong Kong,
and Shanghai will also become more important over the next 10
years.

Knight Frank determined its
eighth-annual "global cities" ranking based on four factors:
economic activity, political power, quality of life, and
influence and power. It also took into account each city's
population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those with $30
million or more in net assets, excluding their primary
residence), and responses from an attitude survey of wealth
advisors around the world.

"Our results suggest that by
2024 New York should surpass London as its share of the world’s
UHNWIs rises and the city becomes increasingly important to
Chinese, Russian and even European UHNWIs," the Knight Frank
report concludes.

The chart below shows which
cities were most important last year and this year, and the
forecasted ranking for 2024.

Knight Frank

The report also notes an
impending "power struggle" among Asia's top cities.
"One of the key
differences, however, between Asia and Europe and North America
is Asia’s lack of a single dominant city," the report says. "This
is why we are now seeing the power struggle ... with Singapore,
Hong Kong, Shanghai and even Beijing all contenders for the title
of future leading Asian city."

Hong Kong will eventually
overtake Singapore because "the dominance of China is unavoidable and
Hong Kong’s unofficial role as the portal between its big brother
and the rest of the world will ensure the growing dominance of
the city over the next decade," Knight Frank concludes.

Knight Frank also identified
the five most important cities in each region of the globe, as
well as five future "hotspots." Sao Paulo leads the "hotspot"
ranking, as its population of ultra-wealthy individuals is set to
rise in the next decade.Knight Frank